KAREN CRAIG

Experience

Karen Craig has been honored as the Civic Leader of the Year by the Reno/Sparks Chamber of Commerce, featured in the New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town,” and been called one of Nevada’s 20 Most Influential Leaders to Watch in the 21st Century. Craig’s leadership in economic development is evidenced across the country from Brooklyn/NY, to Telluride/Colorado, and Reno/Nevada.

Craig is a native of Los Angeles who graduated from the University of Denver in 1985, with a B.A. and double major in Communications and Geography.

She began her career at NW AYER Advertising and Public Relations in New York City. As an Account Executive, she worked on the AT&T Corporate Account promoting the company’s underwriting for the McNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on PBS, AT&T Presents Carnegie Hall Tonight, and American Orchestras on Tour.

From 1986-1989, she was Press Representative at the BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC (BAM), one of American’s most innovative and respected avant-garde performing arts centers. While at BAM, she was asked to serve the United States as Press Attaché for two Cultural Exchange Programs that toured the Soviet Union and Japan coordinating interviews with the New York Times (front page story), NBC’s Today Show and ABC’s Good Morning America. She was also honored to serve as Press Assistant to Princess Diana during her first official visit to the United States in 1989.

In 1990, Craig became Executive Director for the TELLURIDE INSTITUTE in Colorado, a think-tank created to expand the area’s boom-bust tourist-based economy. At the Institute, she helped develop cultural, environmental and technology initiatives through her collaborations with such visionaries as John Naisbitt (author of Megatrends), Amory Lovins (energy & sustainability) and John Cage (composer). Under the banner of “Creating a Society to Match the Scenery,” programs such as ‘The Ideas Festival,’ ‘InfoZone,’ ‘Sustainable Energy,’ ‘Agriculture for the High Mountain West’ and ‘Composer-to-Composer’ inspired visitors to become residents.

By 1994, the community’s unique brand was celebrated in a TV commercial proclaiming, “Telluride…a place so cool you can only use your American Express.”

In 1996, Craig co-founded the ARTOWN FESTIVAL in Reno, Nevada, and served as Executive Director for seven years. The Festival began with a small grant ($45K) to strengthen Reno's arts industry while enhancing its civic identity and national image. In half a decade, Artown grew into one of America’s largest visual and performing arts festivals featuring 200 events, presented by 75 partners in 50 locations citywide.

Today 250,000 residents and visitors enjoy the festival annually. The San Francisco Ballet, Marcel Marceau, Kronos Quartet, and Mikhail Baryshnikov made their Nevada debut performances at Artown. Under Craig’s leadership, Artown received two dozen major awards including the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Outstanding Achievement for City Livability, the International Downtown Association’s Excellence Award, and the Governor’s Arts Award for Distinguished Service. Artown is credited with launching Reno’s cultural and economic rebirth, and establishing the brand “Reno is Artown.”

From 2003-2006, Craig broadened her experience into conservation and major gifts fundraising. She served as Nevada’s Director of Philanthropy for THE NATURE CONSERVANCY where she successfully raised six-figure gifts and leveraged matches totaling more than $3,000,000 for projects in Nevada, Canada, Costa Rica, and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Artown-propelled urban lifestyle continued to thrive. Reno’s downtown was expanding, thanks to private and government investments in business, recreation and condominium projects. In 2007, the Reno City Manager asked Craig to develop a public market in downtown Reno. Craig envisioned and created a mixed-use district anchored by a 15,000 square-foot indoor market featuring a boutique grocery, a dozen multi-cultural eateries and experiential attractions for residents, the downtown workforce and Reno’s five million annual tourists.

The WEST STREET MARKET expands outdoors where up to 100 “pop-up” tent vendors sell fresh produce, flowers, art and antiques. Market highlights include an edible garden transformed from a traffic median, learn-at-lunch programs offered by celebrity chefs, and indoor and outdoor stages promoting ecology, healthy living, poetry and music. The market will become “zero-waste” as a demonstration of the Reno City Council’s “Green Priority.”

The Reno Gazette-Journal and Reno Magazine describe the West Street Market as one of the, “most anticipated community developments of 2008.”

Karen Craig is a leading consultant and animated speaker on creative economic development. A sample of Craig’s clients and conveners include the Nevada State Department of Museums/Library/Arts, City of Las Vegas Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Reno, Reno Redevelopment Agency, Truckee Meadows Tomorrow, Reno Chamber Orchestra, SilverStar Development, Sierra Business Council, The Economic Development Institute, The Wallace Foundation’s City Parks Forum, Sheridan Arts Foundation, and the D.W. Reynolds Foundation.